"We should speak clearly, forthrightly and call our leaders back to honesty. We should demand the truth, and refuse to be put to sleep. And those 'leaders' who play those games must also be put to shame, and out to pasture."
RC Sproul Jr on "Spin" in Every Thought Captive, Vol. 5, Issue 5

Thursday, May 11, 2017

RC Sproul Jr Referred To Drug Court

On May 11 Robert Craig Sproul appeared before Judge Wendy Davis in a Pretrial Conference hearing in Allen County Superior Court, Indiana. In that hearing Judge Davis referred RC Sproul Jr's drunk driving case to Indiana Drug Court Treatment at the request of his attorney, Patrick Justin Arata.

What does it mean for RC Sproul Jr that his own attorney, one of the top drunk driving attorneys in the nation, advised him to petition to have his case
transferred to Drug Court? It likely means his attorney knows they
didn't stand much of a chance of convincing a jury of his innocence. In
all likelihood the arresting officer has dash-cam video and audio evidence of the
pursuit and arrest. That evidence, shown to a jury, would be damning,
not to mention the additional evidence of the blood-alcohol test that
showed RC Sproul Jr had a blood-alcohol content of .175 (more than twice the legal limit). The fact that he had two of his minor children with him in the car would have played especially badly to a jury.

RC Sproul Jr's next court appearance is scheduled for May 30 before Judge Frances Gull to determine his eligibility. Not every case referred to Drug Court Treatment is automatically accepted because not every substance abuser makes a good candidate for the Drug Court Treatment Program. Certain criteria first have to be met, and the judge has some latitude in who she will and will not accept. However, one thing the judge cannot do is accept someone into Drug Court Treatment that doesn't meet the legal requirements. From our read of the law RC Sproul Jr does not meet the legal criteria since prosecutorial deferment only applies to misdemeanor charges (RC Sproul Jr has also been charged with two felonies). As such this legal maneuver gives the appearance of an act of desperation, unless that is Mr. Arata has successfully negotiated with the Prosecutor to defer the felony charges conditional upon Sproul's admission and successful completion of the Drug Court Treatment Program. If that's the case then Mr. Arata has been more than earning his enormous fee.

Drug Courts have become very popular among criminal court judges and prosecutors all across the country. Prosecuting drug offenders (alcohol is considered a drug, legally and medically) is very time consuming and expensive, not to mention the considerable expense of incarceration. The outcomes are seldom ever positive. Incarcerating drug offenders costs tax payers many billions of dollars annually and does nothing to help the offenders or their families. Often it just makes the problem of substance abuse even worse.

Drug courts provide the offender a chance to rehabilitate themselves with the aid and supervision of a court system that serves as their ally rather than adversary. Criminal recidivism rates tend to be dramatically lower for participants of drug court programs compared to those who are run through the criminal court process.

Unfortunately there are inherent weaknesses with Drug Court programs, particularly where it concerns alcoholics. For example, Drug Courts rely heavily on periodic drug testing to weed out the non-compliant. While "peeing in the cup" often catches illicit drug abusers it generally is an ineffective means of catching the alcohol abuser. Alcohol is metabolized and eliminated from the body within several hours, whereas illicit drugs often take days, if not weeks, to be eliminated to below detectable levels. Alcoholics also tend to be the last to acknowledge to themselves, let alone others, that they have a serious problem (denial is one of the hallmarks of alcoholism).

Drug Court programs can be highly effective for the sincerely penitent, but they are also far from perfect. For those who want to game the system, just so they can avoid prison, they're likely to get away with consuming their drug of choice on the sly. This is especially true of the alcoholic -- alcohol being the easiest of all drugs to get away with abusing.

If RC Sproul Jr is accepted into the Drug Court Treatment Program, and he's allowed to retain a driver's license (albeit a provisional one which will restrict when and where he can drive), he'll be required to install an ignition interlock ("breathalizer") on his car. But such devices can be circumvented: As the old adage goes, "Locks keep honest people honest." He may also be required to check himself in to an alcohol rehab ("detox") center. But regardless of the expense of an alcohol rehab program, most of them have a high recidivism rate. The court may also order that RC Sproul Jr get a "sponsor" and participate in Alcoholics Anonymous. But such programs are only as beneficial as the willingness of their participants to sincerely seek help. Too many AA participants aren't there by choice, and the odds aren't in their favor of a successful outcome.

As such, the prospects for RC Sproul Jr aren't good. He's been gaming the system for much of his life. He is cunning, duplicitous, and manipulative. If his primary goal of agreeing to Drug Court Treatment is getting off the booze for good then his prospects could be good. If, however, his only goal is avoiding prison, the long-term prospects for he and his family are very poor.

Knowing RC Sproul Jr as we do we believe that, should he convince Judge Gull of his eligibility for the Drug Court Treatment Program, he will likely successfully complete the program and avoid prison. He may even avoid a permanent criminal record. However, we are confident he'll also continue consuming alcohol, something that no alcoholic should ever do. Ultimately RC Sproul Jr will suffer a relapse, be arrested yet once again for drunk driving, and then be put away for a very long time.

The only real hope for RC Sproul Jr is to become the very thing that he has mocked and ridiculed so many for for so many years -- a teetotaler.

10 Comments:

A relative who was charged with DUI was required to wear an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet. The ankle bracelet was very sensitive to any type of alcohol in any quantity and I don't think it would be easy to defeat. If RC is allowed the Drug Court option, he likely will be rockin' an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet that will notify the monitoring company if he takes so much as one swallow of alcohol.

@Anonymous, thanks for your comment. Given that Allen County Indiana apparently does order the use of SCRAM tethers for certain alcohol offenders there's a possibility that Sproul will be wearing an ankle bracelet, at least if he can get himself approved for the Allen County Drug Court Treatment program. However, many Drug Courts don't resort to ordering the use of SCRAM until the offender has already had two or more prior DUIs. Sproul could volunteer to wear one, however, as a condition of being accepted into the Drug Court Treatment program.

Judges like SCRAM because the studies show a dramatic decline in recidivism rates where it's used. What the studies don't show are how the use of SCRAM puts the user at risk of being falsely accused. As such, agreeing to wear a SCRAM ankle bracelet could potentially create a whole new set of problems for Sproul, problems which could make the prospects of facing a jury trial more appealing than wearing an ankle monitor.

SCRAM false positives appear to be not at all uncommon. Many judges are terribly ignorant of technology, so when a tech company comes along, offering them a panacea, and they claim their technology is fool proof, judges are likely to believe it. The fact of the matter is, however, that SCRAM is anything but fool proof. False positives for alcohol do happen because unlike blood, breath, and urine testing, transdermal testing for alcohol is flawed. For one thing it's over-broad -- SCRAM tests not just for ethanol alcohol but all forms of alcohol. SCRAM bracelets also have a tamper detection device and it's not rare that a person is falsely accused of having tampered with their bracelet and is sent to prison for it.

When a false positive happens you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent -- a difficult if not impossible position to overcome. Aside from the inherent flaws of the technology itself, you are also at the mercy of the so-called analysts who interpret the data uploaded daily from the SCRAM bracelet. Judges take those data interpretations at face value and generally don't question the findings. If the analyst says you drank then that's the end of it and you run the risk of being carted off to jail immediately for violating the terms of your Drug Court contract.

Agreeing to wear a SCRAM bracelet also puts you at the complete mercy of your local SCRAM reseller. If you're lucky enough to work with a cordial reseller then they may not cause you any problems. But given how much power those people have, they can easily destroy your life if they want to.

I am not sure what to say .. I did enjoy hearing you preach at Covenant Baptist in Forest City Bear Lake, Florida.. Your message was great the day I heard you. The Covenant church disappeared and several others have Occupied the building since. I am now at Lake Howell Bible Chapel. I never would have suspected this charge. No one including myself is above God's rules... I pray you will humbly repent and God will grant mercy. I never had a problem with alcohol but know some who do close to me. God is more forgiving than many people.. Peace brother .. as I long as God keeps you here it is never to late to repent and seek Him. You know the truth of Scriptures. Please simply obey. Trust and obey.

Once the relative I referenced in the first post got the sensitivity of the SCRAM ankle monitor adjusted after the first day, there were no additional problems. After that first day, the relative also sorted out pretty quickly what non-alcoholic substances were likely to trigger a false positive and avoided those for the duration.

I am not and never have been a fan of R.C. Jr. Much that he has espoused I heartily reject. But I hate the the vindictiveness of this site. He is a Christian brother who may well have an alcohol issue. If so, he needs help from fellow believers. AA would likely be ineffective as it requires its members to accept brainwashing and ultimately will create cognitive dissonance in the mind of a serious person. There may be other serious issues of sin in his life, but, if a man is caught in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness.

"He is a Christian brother..." Really? All you likely have are examples of his writings. Perhaps you’ve heard him at a few Ligonier Ministries conferences? All that is proof of is he has some good things to say. Is that proof of anything other than he can at times be a competent and compelling teacher? It’s not proof he's a "Christian brother," not unless you completely ignore the warnings of Jesus.

Jesus said, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice." (Matt 23:2-3) Based upon our many combined up-close-and-personal experiences over a number of years we know RC Sproul Jr is a Pharisee and a wolf in sheep's clothing (Matt 7:15). Being a wolf is born out by the many lives he has destroyed spiritually, as well as his actively encouraging the abuse of alcohol, all while calling it "moderation."

Quoting scripture you say, "if a man is caught in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness." Your error is assuming this hasn't already been tried. Many people over the years have pleaded with RC Jr, in a spirit of meekness, to reexamine his so-called "moderate consumption of alcohol." This hasn't been done by teetotalers but by those of us who do consume alcohol responsibly, and we DO know what "moderation" means. Some of us have personally witnessed RC Jr stumbling around inebriated, and even getting behind the wheel of his car inebriated. None of us would ever drink so much that we'd ever be inebriated; but even if we had we'd certainly never get behind the wheel of an automobile. None of us have ever done that even before we were Christians, let alone after we’d given our lives to the Lord. When it comes to alcohol RC Sproul Jr acts more like a heathen than most heathens do (and that goes for his Ashley Madison scandal too).

He's too arrogant to ever acknowledge he's had too much to drink. According to him he "only drinks in moderation." So even when he's falling down drunk it's still "moderation." Our pleas to him have consistently fallen on deaf ears. Worse yet RC Jr usually retaliates against any who would make such pleas. If they were members of his church he would "discipline" them, abusing his pastoral authority, making him no better than the common bully. This fact is well established in the records of the RPCGA which defrocked RC Sproul Jr in 2006 for, among other things, "abuse of authority in an inexcusable manner."

Don't be naive and assume that RC Sproul Jr only drove drunk one time because he's only been arrested for drunk driving one time. He's been driving drunk for many years, endangering not just the general public but also his own children who he's regularly had in the car with him. He's also endangered the lives of other people's children.

Rather than falsely accusing us of "vindictiveness" why don't you stop and ask yourself why you're not outraged that a so-called "minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ" would get himself so drunk that he couldn't even stand up on his own when the police pulled him out of the car? Why aren't you outraged that he had his own two minor children with him in the car? Why are you angry at us rather than him? Why do you assume he’s a “Christian brother” when the pattern of his life clearly shows that he’s a reprobate?

You're mad at us because we've burst your bubble about this so-called "Christian brother." Easier to shoot the messenger than face up to your having believed a phony narrative.

You can't play nice with an unrepentant drunk. You've got to be tough. Anyone who's had to confront alcoholism with a family member or friend knows that's what it takes. Sure you can try and play nice at first. That's what most people do, but when that doesn't work, and with alcys it never does, then you have no choice but to get tough. People like Anonymous aren't doing Sproul any favors with his "restore such a one in the spirit of meekness." That's just twisting the bible. Besides which there's nothing to "restore" if he was never a born again Christian in the first place. In his own Calvinist theology R.C. Sproul, Jr. is "unregenerate."

1 Corinthians 6:10 says "nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor DRUNKARDS, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." R.C. Sproul, Jr. is a drunkard. I don't say it just because he was caught out once driving drunk but because getting drunk and drinking to excess are his habit. He's even proud of it. I've witnessed it myself. He is NOT a brother in Christ. You can't be a Christian while sinning over and over again and refusing to repent, especially over something like being a drunkard which the bible says you are guaranteed to go to Hell for.

He could still repent though. For the sake of his soul I hope he does. But probably it will take prison for him to repent. Prison could be the best thing for him. Plenty of people have come to genuine saving faith in prison. One thing is for certain though, he won't get saved by any kid gloves Drug Court deal. That's just an "Oops, sorry I got caught. I'll try and not do it again." Unless the consequences are severe I just can't see him ever repenting.

You burst no bubble around R.C., Jr, for me, for I have never at any time been a fan, follower, or admirer.

What I do know, as a minister of 45 years this coming July 30, is that I know an unmerciful spirit, an arrogant self-righteousness, and a sarcastic hardness when I see them, and it's all over this site.

You also seriously misread the intent of the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 6.

But none of this matters to you since you are convinced of your own righteousness and of Sproul's exclusion from the kingdom.

Sites such as this mean and small spirited one reaffirm David's prayer to the Lord, "Let me not fall into the hand of man." May God spare me and any other believer from falling into yours.

This is very useful information for someone who finds himself in this situation. Contrary to what we see on television, it is not always an easy task to escape charges. Knowing that there is the option of drug court should be helpful for many. There is a way out of legal and life trouble at the same time.